Saturday, June 13, 2009

Rain

The weather in Chicago these past few weeks has sucked. Today was no exception. It's been raining all morning long, and I have yet to even open one book to start my homework. It's been one of those days where I've just been ruminating on things that I shouldn't be reflecting on. But from stormy skies and rainy days come better things...like Missy.

I've been meaning to write a blog post exonerating all the amazing creativity that comes from this one woman. Missy Elliott is one of the few women artists that I truly respect and admire. Every video she puts out is unique and surprising. She is a woman who is always ahead of her time.


When The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) first came out back in 1997, everyone was amazed at the trashbag on her body, the stopmotion camera work, and the overall weird feel of the video. Nothing like this had ever really been seen before in the pop music of the 90's. The angles of her body, the overly magnified facial features, and futuristic sets all came from the genius mind of Hype Williams, who's worked with the likes of Kanye West, Jamie Foxx, t.A.T.u., and Coldplay. Check out his extensive videography here.

What many people don't realize however, is that producer Timbaland sampled the chorus from an old 70's hit by Ann Peebles. Check out the original song along with some pictures of Ann from back in the day.



What can I say? Homegirl can still work it after all these years. (There's some great footage at the beginning of this next video of the the writers talking about what inspired them to write this song followed by Ms. Peebles singing it live. Definitely worth watching.)



So yes, the rain and haunting memories might suck right now, but there's always something just a bit better right around the corner, like the afternoon sunshine that's finally breaking through all these damn clouds.

3 comments:

  1. There was a movie in the 90s-ish era called The Commitments about a group of Irish people who start a soul band. They did "I can't stand the rain" and it was fab. If you haven't seen it, I know my momma has it and can grab it--ya know..if you're interested.

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  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cshw-LvHlkM

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  3. I absolutely ADORE that movie! One on the list of DVDs that I need to buy eventually.

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